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Senator George Mitchell Peace Bridge

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Not to be confused with Peace Bridge (Foyle).
File:Senator George Mitchell Peace Bridge.jpg
The statue on the bridge

The Senator George Mitchell Peace Bridge (informally called the Peace Bridge) is a road bridge across the border of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It carries the main road between Enniskillen in County Fermanagh and Cavan in County Cavan.

Old bridge

The bridge replaces an earlier structure to the east, known as the Aghalane Bridge, that was destroyed on 21 November 1972 by Irish Unionists during the Troubles. No paramilitary group has ever claimed responsibility for the bombing.[1] It was quickly replaced by a temporary bridge, but following the detonation of a bomb in the nearby market town of Belturbet the following month, the British government decided to leave the bridge in a state of disrepair and demolished the temporary structure.[2] The lack of a crossing cut off access to farmland in southern Fermanagh from Belturbet. Local traffic had to undertake a 12-mile (19 km) detour, severing communities and leading to economic decline in the area, with many businesses in Belturbet closing.[3]

New bridge

The current bridge opened in April 1999, and was named after the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, George J. Mitchell, who acted as chairman in the Irish peace process talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement the previous year.[4] Of the proposed £1,930,720 cost, £1,061,250 was pledged to be funded by the EU Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation.[1][3] There is a statue at the bridge commemorating the peace process, with the inscription "Peace For All".[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Adam Ingram (30 March 1999). "Aghalane Bridge". Hansard. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  2. ^ "British favoured closing Aghalane Bridge". BBC News. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Border bridge reunites communities". BBC News. 8 June 2004. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  4. ^ ""Crossing the divide"". European Commission. January 2001. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Memorials and commemoration". Borderlands. Queen Mary University of London. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
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